Monthly Archives: October 2012

“Almost heaven, West Virginia. Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River. Life is old there, older than the trees, younger than the mountains, blowing like a breeze.”

This week, there were a ton of interruptions during my Monday anime viewing. It took me about four hours to get through this 2-hour movie. And then, it was much later than my normal viewing time, and I’ve been non-stop busy ever since. So, I’m just now getting around to updating my blog on this week’s Miyazaki Monday film: Whisper of the Heart. Here goes:

So, I’m from West Virginia. It’s a safe state, a gorgeous state, a quiet and antiquated kind of state, the state where my family lives … but for various reasons, I’ve never had an overabundance of state pride. That is, with the firm exception of every time that John Denver’s “Country Roads” comes on the radio. That song, for whatever reason, just makes me swell with gladness.

So when I first watched Whisper of the Heart and heard Olivia Newton John singing that song over the opening credits, I was all at once filled with the aforementioned gladness, along with the rapturous hilarity of that song’s being essentially the theme song to a thoroughly Japanese animated film. I knew that this film would either be an incredible viewing experience or an utter disaster. And, for me, it did not disappoint — not the first time, nor this time.

Now, it must be stated that Whisper of the Heart is probably not for everyone. Indeed, I don’t actually know how to evaluate it apart from my personal biases, because it is so very reminiscent of my early life and of my naive, self-effacing, cat-loving, creatively-aspiring, shy, awkward, bookish, eight-grade self. (Okay, and yes, a good part of that self still remains, firmly but cozily nestled in the — quite commodious — childlike part of my nature.) Because not only did the song of my state, of my past, and of my reminiscence tie the film closely to my heart from the first moment, but also the story proceeded to introduce:

1) A grumpy, overweight, meandering, adorable cat
2) A fantastical antique shop
3) An intense love for literature (particularly fairy tales)
4) A sheepish, often-suppressed, yet persistent desire to write or create
5) An inspirational cat statue, called the Baron, with a deeply romantic history
6) An understated longing for trees and hills and open spaces

I could go on, but you see, unless you happened to be just like me, as I was in eighth grade, you’d probably get bored with lists of things that only seem significant to me. Similarly, if none of this post whatsoever has made any sense to you (I wouldn’t blame you — it’s all over the place this week!), you might find yourself also disliking Whisper of the Heart. So, I’m going to move on to the hard facts, the relatable parts, and you can decide if it’s worth a viewing.

First off, it’s written by Hayao Miyazaki, so that’s an automatic point in its favor … but, he didn’t direct the film, so it does stray from typical Miyazaki fare somewhat in tone and quality. The music is not Hisaishi, so that’s a strike … but, it is quite delightful nonetheless. In particular, the impromptu folk jam session (picture above) is wonderfully joyous. There aren’t many recognizable big-ticket names on the list of English voice actors, with the exception of the perfectly-cast Cary Elwes as the Baron.

So, Pros: Lovely music, if you’re okay with hearing “Country Roads” about a hundred times … which I am. Decent if not recognizable voice acting. Beautiful Ghibli-quality animation. A fun and adventurous and deeply relatable story, for some. Did I mention the impropmtu folk jam session? Yeah, cause moments like that should happen in real life. Cats. Enough said.

Cons: If you’re not me, you might not like this film. Preeeeeettttty cheesy and over-sentimentalized and juvenile. Eighth-grade love story (Ghilbli has an awkward habit of making films about little kids falling in love). Could be considered slow and shallow by some.

I really don’t know how to rate this one, so …. for normal people, maybe ** to *** … for my taste: **** out of ***** 😀

So, that thing he’s swinging at the policeman … *facepalm* This is one of those movies that just leaves you shaking your head. It’s not ridiculous enough to be genuinely funny, and it’s far too ridiculous to be taken seriously. It’s not endearing enough to be genuinely interesting. It’s too bizarre to make any meaningful statements about anything whatsoever, and yet it’s not quirky enough to be fascinating in any respect. In fact, I don’t even know what this movie is about — the closer you get to the end of the film, the more and more ambiguous the message becomes. And let’s face it, the whole film is riddled with anatomically correct cartoon raccoons whose “raccoon pouches” expand to enormous sizes and are used in varying ways throughout the film as weapons, parachutes, blankets, and all manner of other freakish accoutrements.

I cannot figure out how the *absolute genius* behind Grave of the Fireflies and Only Yesterday somehow ended up also thinking Pom Poko would be a good idea. Seriously, Takahata? The music isn’t helping, either. And in the English dubbed version, the main raccoon character is voiced by (drumroll) Jonathan Taylor Thomas. Bahaha.

The only way I can justify this at all is to assume that there is some vast cultural lore (raccoon fairy tales and mythology and whatnot) that would make this film palatable to Japanese audiences. But at least in my opinion, it doesn’t translate at any level to a Western viewer, even though you’d think many of the themes (environmental preservation, modern society, etc.) would resonate quite easily. And at a full two hours in length, the strangeness of the documentary/crazy cartoon style combined with the dragging, boring plotline and the utter inability to say anything worthwhile, make Pom Poko a one-time viewing experience that I certainly don’t intend to repeat. As I said, it’s not even funny enough to merit a viewing for the sake of mockery. But, hey, it’s over now, and I can move on to Ghibli’s better work once again!

Pros: Not many. There are a *very few* interesting animated sequences (the monster parade, and the re-forestation at the end). There are a *very few* chuckle-worthy moments. It’s Ghibli, so that’s something.

Cons: I mean, “raccoon pouches.” Raccoon lovemaking, raccoons singing crazy badly-translated folk tunes, raccoons getting hit by cars and dumped in piles of gory dead raccoon carcases, raccoons … well, really, I just don’t like the raccoons. The music is just so-so. The animation is just alright. The story is slow, repetitive, and boring. There’s no substance, no clear message, and really nothing that makes those two hours worthwhile.

Well, here’s the first Ghibli film thus far that you’ll find me fairly unenthusiastic about. I’ve seen Ocean Waves twice now, and for some reason each time it’s left me underwhelmed. Granted, this was a made-for-TV movie, and as far as I can tell neither Miyazaki, Takahata, nor Hisaishi were involved in any way. So, the story is less awesome, the direction is less awesome, the music is way less awesome. You get the idea.

I watched this subbed — as I said, it was made for TV, so it didn’t have a big Disney US release, and I don’t think it has ever been dubbed into English. The animation style isn’t as crisp and beautiful as what Ghibli usually produces. The story is … well, the only word I could think of to describe it is “Meh” (insert lackadaisical shoulder shrug).

It’s effectively a slice-of-life high-school drama (which, tastefully done — as in some of Ghibli’s other films — doesn’t necessarily bother me) … but Ocean Waves borders on soap opera. In fact, one of the characters comments at one point that the events transpiring do indeed resemble a soap opera. There’s a love triangle, a cheesy-sad sob story about some high school girl whose parents divorced, that whole oh-man-I-never-realized-how-much-I-liked-you-until-now moment thing. It’s all stuff that happens, that could be handled in a meaningful way, but here it’s over-dramatized and not bolstered by any substantive undercurrent of meaning or genuine character development or symbolism or … anything, really. And the music!?!? Augh, so, so, so sappy. Awful.

So, yeah, I’m not a big fan of this one:

Pros: It’s Ghibli, so that’s something. Its faults are fairly innocent — could be worse … could be about male raccoons with awkward abilities (Sigh … Pom Poko is next Monday … yikes!)